Controversial Karp Report Published

The Karp report citing shortcomings in the maintenance of law and order in the administered territories, was published by the government today, some 18 months after it was completed and two days after the Cabinet agreed on a series of “guidelines” aimed at correcting the deficiencies in law enforcement.

The report was prepared by Deputy Attorney General Yehudit Karp who headed a committee established by the Justice Ministry to investigate law enforcement in the West Bank and Gaza.

It dealt with disorders created by the Arab population and vigilantism by Jewish settlers, the latter, more often than not going unpunished because of lack of coordination between the civilian and military authorities, poor police work and refusal of Jewish settlers to cooperate with the authorities when one of their own was involved in violence against Arabs.

SOME CHARGES CREATED A SENSATION

The latter charges created a sensation when Karp resigned last year to protest the government’s failure to act on the report. She withdrew her resignation later and her report came under review at the highest government levels. The Cabinet’s decision Sunday to adopt a tougher policy toward Arab and Jewish law breakers was at least a partial implementation of Karp’s recommendations.

The immediate reaction by the Council of Jewish Settlements in Judaea and Samaria was to welcome release of the report but attacked Karp for allegedly presenting her political views in the guise of a legal paper. The settlers demanded that the government take disciplinary action against Karp because she “leaked the findings to the press.”

ELEMENTS IN THE REPORT

The Karp report deals specifically with 70 cases of clashes involving Arabs and Israeli security forces and Jewish civilians. It charged that police investigation into some of the cases was “poor and faulty,” and noted that delays in the investigation process were caused by the separation of powers between the police and the military. Nearly half of the cases — 33 out of 70– were closed with no action taken against suspects, Jewish civilians. The police recommended pressing charges in only 15 cases.

The report cited as an example the illegal takeover of the old Hadassah building in Hebron by Jewish militants from nearby Kiryat Arba. The police handling of this violation was “poor,” the report said.

According to the report, the Military Governor of Hebron ordered the local police chief, a Jewish officer, not to proceed against the violators. The officer told the Karp investigators that there was a “conspiracy of silence” and not all suspects were questioned, the report said.

The investigating committee encountered difficulties when it tried to obtain information in cases where Jewish civilians were involved in shooting Arabs. According to the report, a police investigation into fatal shootings of Arabs by armed Jewish settlers did not demonstrate “the required stamina.”

OBJECTIVE PROBLEMS IN LAW ENFORCEMENT

The report noted, however, that there were many objective problems in law enforcement in the territories. These include a manpower shortage, poor quality of police work, language difficulties and a hostile Arab population.

The Cabinet, in its 10-point statement Sunday, promised that the army, the police and other security agencies would assign more manpower and resources to deal with Arab and Jewish law breakers. The Council of Jewish Settlements contended that the best way to maintain law and order in the West Bank was to impose Israeli law, an act that would be tantamount to annexation of the territory.

Jordanian law nominally governs the Arab population on the West Bank but it has been amended by hundreds of directives issued by the Israeli military authorities over the years.